ONAWA, Iowa | Ron and Darla Conner, veterans in drag racing operations, were recently named to management positions at the new Onawa Racing and Events Complex, a facility bent on bringing thousand of racing enthusiasts -- and more -- to the Monona County seat.
"We are elated to have Ron and Darla as managers," said Phil Schroder, vice president serving the Onawa Racing and Events Complex. "They bring a lot of experience and will operate the race track and events center on a daily basis."
The Onawa Racing and Entertainment Complex has worked with the City of Onawa to develop the drag strip at the old municipal airport, a facility the city closed two years ago, citing a lack of revenue. Work began in earnest in 2017 to transform the site into a drag strip offering race competitions covering 1,000 feet, one-eighth mile and one-quarter mile.
A $400,000 event center, which measures 60 feet by 150 feet, promises to host wedding receptions, reunions, concerts, meetings, estate auctions and the like in addition to regular race dates.
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"We're planning to do a soccer field here on the grounds as well as sand volleyball and mud-drags," Schroder said last fall.
The new building and the track's two-story timing tower have risen on the southern edge of the grounds, a 100-acre parcel just south of the Onawa Country Club's 9-hole layout. OREC has entered into a 99-year lease of the site with the city.
Promoter Scott Gardner of Gardner Race Track Consultants directs a full racing slate in 2018, a schedule that may attract drivers and drag racing enthusiasts from across the Midwest. The nearest drag strips around are Thunder Valley Dragways near Parker, South Dakota, and I-29 Dragway at Pacific Junction, Iowa, sites that are an average of 105 miles from Sioux City.
The Conners, according to Schroder, have many years of experience with NHRA Division 5 racing, most recently having served Heartland Park in Topeka, Kansas.
"We love the Midwest and Midwest racers and fans and can't wait to get started," Darla Conner remarked. Her responsibilities, in addition to those surrounding the new events center, include gate operations, sponsor sales, promotions, social media, event planning, concessions and more.
Ron Conner will focus on race operations, programs, track preparation, facility maintenance, sponsor sales and more. "The atmosphere at OREC is welcoming and we can't wait to meet the racers and fans as we work with the team in getting OREC open and start producing great events," he said.
The IHRA drag racing facility is tentatively slated to open in May.
OREC members continue to offer $1,000 shares to help finance construction and operation of the complex.
The city of Onawa provided $500,000 in tax-increment financing and has pledged another $300,000 to fund the construction project, an effort that's largely been accomplished through the use of local contractors and subcontractors.
"We want people to understand this track will be debt free," Schroder said, adding that he'd like to one day employ 10-18 people at the complex.
Schroder, who moved to Onawa from nearby Decatur, Nebraska, in 1982, drag-raced throughout the 1970s. He's continued to follow the sport for years and has eyed this kind of effort in the Monona County seat for 15 years.
"I think of it as economic development for Onawa," said Schroder, who owns Schroder Services Inc., noting that fans will not only spend money at the site, but at businesses in and around Onawa, including gas stations, restaurants and bars.
